Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. It has long been considered the ultimate test of playing ability between cricketing nations. It remains the highest-regarded form of the game, although the comparatively new One-Day International cricket is now more popular amongst some audiences. The name "Test" is thought to arise from the idea that the matches are a "test of strength" between the sides involved. It seems to have been used first to describe an English team that toured Australia in 1861-62, although those matches are not considered Test matches today. The first ever official test match commenced on the 15th of March 1877, contested by England and Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground, where the Australians won by 45 runs. England won the second ever match (also at the MCG) by 4 wickets, thus drawing the series 1-1. This was not the first ever international cricket match however, which was played between Canada and the United States, on the 24th and 25th of September 1844.

History
There are currently ten Test-playing nations.
Test status is conferred upon a country by the International Cricket Council. Countries that do not have Test status can only officially play a shortened version of cricket, except in events such as the ICC Intercontinental Cup, which was specifically designed to allow non-Test nations to play under conditions similar to Tests. The nations are listed below with the date of each nation's Test debut shown in brackets:
Zimbabwe's Test matches were temporarily suspended from 10 June, 2004, to 6 January, 2005, and from 18 January, 2006 to 2007. In 2003, the ICC announced its intention to confer Test status upon Kenya in the near future, but Kenyan cricket has been through difficulties since then and no date for Kenya's promotion is likely to be set in the near future.

Australia (15 March, 1877)
England (15 March, 1877) (actually made up of players from England and Wales)
South Africa (12 March, 1889 - 10 March, 1970) and (18 April, 1992) (South Africa did not compete in international cricket from 1971 to 1991 because, under the Gleneagles Agreement, other countries refused to play against South African teams in protest against their policy of apartheid)
West Indies (23 June, 1928) (actually made up of players from a number of nations, including Grenada, Jamaica and St. Lucia)
New Zealand (10 January, 1930)
India (25 June, 1932) (Pre-1947 India included those parts of the sub-continent that are now Pakistan and Bangladesh.)
Pakistan (16 October, 1952) (Pre-1971 Pakistan included that part of the sub-continent that is now Bangladesh.)
Sri Lanka (17 February, 1982)
Zimbabwe (18 October, 1992 - 10 June, 2004) and (6 January, 2005 - 18 January, 2006)
Bangladesh (10 November, 2000) Test cricket playing nations
Test cricket is played between two teams of eleven players over a period of up to a maximum of five days - although matches are sometimes completed early when one side wins well within the time allotted (e.g. in three or four days). On each day there are usually three two-hour sessions with a forty minute break for "lunch" and a twenty minute break for "tea"; in England typically 11am-1pm, 1.40pm-3.40pm, 4pm-at least 6pm (play often continues later - up 7.30pm - to make up for overs lost due to the weather, to make up the required minimum number of overs for the day, or if a team is close to being dismissed). The duration of earlier sessions can be altered if there have been weather interruptions or (in certain circumstances) if the state of play so dictates. For example, if rain has stopped play, lunch may be taken early to leave more time in the afternoon for play without rain and/or on a drier pitch. If a team is dismissed close enough to a scheduled break, the break may be brought forward and the other team begin its innings after the break. In the early days of the game, Test matches were played over three or four days and there have also have been 'Timeless Tests', where there was no predetermined length of the match.
Before play starts on the first day, a coin is tossed. The team winning the toss chooses whether to bat first or to bowl first. In the following, the team batting first is termed "team A" and its opponents "team B".
If the follow-on is forced:
If, after each team's first innings, the follow-on is not forced or cannot be forced:
Finally, if the team batting in the fourth innings is dismissed with the combined totals equal, the game is a tie (as distinct from a draw, as described above). With the comparatively high scores in cricket, only two ties have occurred over the entire history of over 1,700 Test matches. Both matches are regarded as amongst the most exciting ever played.
The decision for the winner of the toss to bat or bowl first is based on an assessment of the relative strengths and weaknesses of each team and the conditions of the wicket. Most of the time pitches tend to become hard to bat on as the game nears its conclusion, and players bat more poorly after the fatigue of four solid days of cricket, so teams usually prefer to bat first. However, sometimes the conditions at the very beginning of the match particularly suit fast bowling, so if either team has particularly strong set of pace bowlers, the team winning the toss may choose to bowl first (either to take advantage of their own attack or to disallow the opposition the use of a "green" wicket whose erratic bounce will help seam bowling).
After 80 overs, the captain of the bowling side has the option to take a new ball. A new ball, which is harder than an old ball, generally favours fast bowlers who can make it bounce at a greater range of (unpredictable) heights and speeds. Spin bowlers or those using reverse swing prefer an old ball. The captain may delay the decision to take the new ball if he wishes to continue with his spinners (because the pitch favours spin), though in general the new ball is looked forward to as an opportunity to introduce new life into the bowling with more chance of taking wickets.
The rationale for a team declaring their innings closed prior to being bowled out may be confusing for cricketing neophytes, but it is often a sound tactic. Remember that to win a game, the losing side must be given the opportunity to complete two innings. If they do not do so the game ends in a draw, no matter how many runs they may be behind (an example of this is Sri Lanka's 952 run innings against India. Despite this being the highest total runs in a test match innings, the game was drawn). Therefore, a team with a large lead will declare to give themselves more time to bowl at the opposition and take all their wickets.

Team A bats until either ten batsmen are dismissed (team A is "all out"), or its captain chooses to stop batting (called a "declaration"). This batting period is called an "innings". There is no limit to the length of an innings provided there remain at least two batsmen who have not been dismissed (when ten are dismissed, the eleventh cannot continue by himself) and the five days have not elapsed.
After team A's first innings the teams swap roles, with team B batting its first innings, and team A bowling and fielding.
If team B is dismissed with a score 200 runs or more behind team A, team A chooses whether to "invite" team B to bat again for its second innings (called "enforcing the follow-on"), or to bat itself to gain a bigger lead. (If the whole first day of play is abandoned without a single ball being bowled, whether because of rain or otherwise, the follow-on requirement is reduced to 150 runs.)
Team B bats its second innings.
If team B's total score from both innings is less than team A's first innings score, team A wins the match.
If this is not the case, team A must bat its second innings to attempt to score more than team B's total. If it succeeds in the remaining time, team A wins. If it is dismissed before this occurs, team B wins. (This is very unusual - teams that enforce the follow-on very rarely lose. This has happened only three times in the entire history of Test cricket and each time the losing team has been Australia; the most recent one being the India-Australia series in India in 2001.)
If time runs out before any of the above occurs, the match is called a draw.
Team A bats its second innings. If time runs out before the innings is completed, the match is a draw.
If team A's total score for its two innings is less than team B's score from its first innings, team B is the winner. Otherwise, team B must bat a second innings.
If team B's total score over two innings is more than team A's, team B wins the match.
If team B is dismissed before reaching team A's total, team A wins the match.
If neither occurs before the scheduled end of the match, it is a draw. Competitions

Toss (cricket)
ICC Test Championship
List of Test matches
List of Test cricket grounds
List of Test cricket records
List of Test cricketers